Having just enjoyed a trip to Portland for Fleet week and the annual Rose Parade on Amtrak's Cascade, a Talgo train, I ask: Have these been made for us 3-rail guys?
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Nope. Lionel had an advance announcement of one in a catalog many years ago but never went forward with it.
MTH did an F59PHI in Amtrak Cascades livery that is reasonably good, but offered it with Superliner passenger cars. They did a good job with various passenger station announcements, i.e. Seattle, Portland, Tacoma, Kelso, etc. but nothing for stations north of Seattle.
I would sure like to see it go into production.
Think Lionel really missed their opportunity by not making the Talgo set.
This TCA etrain article has mention of the set:
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Since MTH has already done the Cascade loco and passenger cars they would just have to create the tooling for the slope back and they are in business with the Cascade Talgo.
Bill T
The Cascades has two different versions now. One has a new cab that look hideous. The ends don't have that flare at the end either. Local train fans call it, "the Bus," "Elvis," and "Mater," among other things...
Id I were going to make a model for production, I'd hold off until I knew if they were gonna make more of them.
The Cascades has two different versions now. One has a new cab that look hideous. The ends don't have that flare at the end either. Local train fans call it, "the Bus," "Elvis," and "Mater," among other things...
Id I were going to make a model for production, I'd hold off until I knew if they were gonna make more of them.
Hmm.... That looks vaguely familiar...
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Nope. The Aerotrain isn't a Talgo. The basic Talgo coach has only one wheelset per carbody.
The NH Rodger Williams used modified RDC's.
The Dan'l Webster (and NYC's Explorer) were similar in concept to a Talgo, but weren't built under license from Talgo. Those were Pullman's attempt at copying the Tago design.
The New Haven's John Quincy Adams and B&M's Speed Merchant were also similar to the Talgo designs but built by ACF.
Rusty
The Northwest Talgo trains are an oddball beast with a conventional loco/control cab and "transition" car at each end. A model version would look kind of stupid IMO because of the height disparity between loco and cars. If you have a loco/control cab and a transition car at each end, how many low-rider cars do you need in between to try to make it look right?
I have an MTH Pioneer Zephyr which is a cool looking train, but the articulated cars make it less convenient to set up or remove from the track. It needs dedicated track space for convenient operation. For that reason I would not want another articulated model train.
If a model Talgo train was made, what version would it be? Do you want an old F40 control cab on one end?
Or how about the "Batman" version with transition car on the end, sans control cab ...
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Nope. The Aerotrain isn't a Talgo. The basic Talgo coach has only one wheelset per carbody.
The NH Rodger Williams used modified RDC's.
The Dan'l Webster (and NYC's Explorer) were similar in concept to a Talgo, but weren't built under license from Talgo. Those were Pullman's attempt at copying the Tago design.
The New Haven's John Quincy Adams and B&M's Speed Merchant were also similar to the Talgo designs but built by ACF.
Rusty
Tago. I'm sure you mean Talgo.
You left out C&Os experiments with the idea also.
Ah, Vancouver depot. The classic Cascades Talgo look. Some of these old F40s (now just control stands on a gutted frame and shell) have a grey-blue paint job with a baggage door in the center of the body shell.
You very rarely ever see them like that as there's no way to return like this. The new Talgo doesn't have the transition ends at all and if you look, the cab is way closer to the rails than the old F40 control cars. I'm not sure how the unions signed off on that as the first time they meet a 18-wheeler at a grade crossing, it won't be a good day for the head-end crew.
I'm Sorry - But That's One Ugly Train!
Give me the Rio Grande Zephyr or the Santa Fe Chief in War Bonnet.
Why cant EMD or GE build a Locomotive with a modern power plant in a classic F7 Body.
Steve
I've ridden it a few times as I live pretty close to one of the stations it stops at, and I can tell you it's a very smooth and pleasant ride. Being so low-slung, you're much closer to the rails than in any normal passenger train. And this train does almost 80 up and down the I-5 corridor.
Might not be much to look at, but it's a good train to take a trip in.
I agree, p51. I also like their advanced [relative to Amtrak et ali] technology: Independent wheel rotation, 'pendular'/gravitational automatic tilting in curves, articulated design, etc....
Ah, Vancouver depot. The classic Cascades Talgo look. Some of these old F40s (now just control stands on a gutted frame and shell) have a grey-blue paint job with a baggage door in the center of the body shell.
You very rarely ever see them like that as there's no way to return like this. The new Talgo doesn't have the transition ends at all and if you look, the cab is way closer to the rails than the old F40 control cars. I'm not sure how the unions signed off on that as the first time they meet a 18-wheeler at a grade crossing, it won't be a good day for the head-end crew.
Thanks for the comments, but you might be interested to know that's not at Vancouver.
Care to take a guess?
This version of the "Cascades" Talgo-train with custom-control-cab runs north of Portland only, presumably because Washington State DOT funded it. The styling leaves something to be desired. Photo from internet.
Push-pull train with an EMD F59PHI on the other end.
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Pitty the Lionel one was never made in the 90s do you think they could take another stab at it for volume 2 although c2 will be out in less than 8 weeks 2019 c1 might be more a possibility and i want a train with fogged Windows